Human and animal embryos are presently cultured in controlled atmosphere incubators, with the aid of suitable growth-enhancing nutrients. The typical culturing cycle is three days, followed by implantation into the female reproductive system. Currently, there are several accepted methods which are practiced in the embryo culturing field. One of the generally accepted methods involves the use of Petrie dishes as a culturing container, in which individual embryos are placed. This technique involves submerging the individual embryos in respective drops of a growth-enhancing nutrient. Thus, each of the embryos is submerged in its own drop of the growth-enchancing nutrient. The practice of embryo culturing involves visually recording the morphology of the embryos and attempting to determine the viability of each embryo based on its morphology, and the position of certain features of the embryos such as R's polar bodies and spindles. This occurs in the culturing containers, and involves periodic visual inspection; note taking; and visual evaluation of the development of the embryos.
When the embryos are inspected as the embryos develop during the culturing period, the technician must obtain visual conformation as to which of the embryos may be more viable than the others, and which of the embryos are more likely to survive and further develop after implantation. This inspection requires that the technician physically remove the embryos in their Petrie dishes from the incubator, and carry them to a bench top location to be viewed through a microscope, or the like optical instrument. Another factor in the visual assessment of the embryos is that some country's governing bodies mandate by law that the selection process of the embryos to be implanted, (sometimes only three or fewer embryos), be made on the day of retrieval from the incubator. This is based on the then-existing morphological and physical characteristics of the embryos. The selected embryos may be the only embryos that are incubated through the entire culturing period, and then implanted. Flawed embryos that are detected during the culturing period are discarded.
As noted above, the embryos must be removed from the incubator environment and examined on a bench top by a microscope or other optical means. Subjecting the embryos to such relatively frequent handling is undesirable, but necessary in the culturing process as presently performed. Likewise, exposing the embryos to the ambient lab environment by removing the embryos from the specialized incubator environment is undesirable, but necessary in the culturing process as presently performed.
It would be desirable to provide an embryo or other specimen-culturing incubator assembly and process which allows the embryos or other specimens to be evaluated during the culturing period by a technician without having to remove the embryos or other specimens from the incubator during the culturing period.